Tear These Walls Down
by perlaret
Summary: They've waited a long time for this. Post-canon.


**Author's Note:** Written for the un-love-you community at LJ, prompt #7: prove it. (But actually, I just wrote it because I wanted kissing.)

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**Tear These Walls Down  
**

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Light from the street lamp filters in through the window, gleaming through the gap in the curtains.

It takes Riza a moment to gather her bearings and figure out why she's laying on the wrong side of the bed, closest to the door. It's the arm about her waist that gives it away, and it immediately seems very silly that she even had to wonder in the first place.

She tilts her head back to peer over her shoulder. Roy is still fast asleep beside her, his breath steady against the bare skin of her neck. Riza can't help but just look at him. Part of this, most of it, still feels surreal, like the way he is holding her close against him, bare and intimate beneath the sheets, is just the product of her imagination. Riza has imagined this a lot over the years, and the most reassuring thing is that _this_ is far better than anything she has ever fantasized.

They had not meant for it to happen. Well, at least not from her end. Between the frequent hospital visits, reorganizing the Fuhrer's office, the rebuilding of Central HQ, and beginning to devise a new Ishval policy, the past few months had been hectic. They barely had time to eat consistently, let alone take the time needed to really sort out everything that had happened.

So much had happened. Riza remembers the months she spent away from Roy's side as Bradley's hostage, all the days she spent missing his constant presence after practically being his shadow for so long. She recalls the fury in his eyes as he methodically set about destroying Envy, heedless of anything but his vengeance, how close she almost came to losing him forever. He'd come back from that ledge, only to disappear through the Gate, and then his eyes...

There is so much to say, so much risen up between them that they have been dancing around for weeks. Something had changed, irreversibly, on that day, but it's as if they have grown so used to never having to say what they mean they've lost the ability to say anything at all.

And then tonight. Riza doesn't know quite what made this night different from all the rest. At the end of a long day of work, Roy had rattled off some flimsy excuse to see her home, and by the time they had reached her floor it was as if some indiscernible line had been crossed. Something tipped the scales, and all Riza remembers is the result: the way Roy had kissed her against the door of her apartment, over the threshold and all the way to the bedroom.

They have much to talk about, eventually, but for this moment Riza cannot stand the distance between them anymore, even as they still share the same pillow. She suddenly turns in Roy's arms, accidentally kicking Hayate where he is curled up at their feet - she's not sure how the dog managed to get into the room after Roy shut him out earlier. Hayate grumbles but doesn't leave.

Roy mumbles something incoherent as she jostles him in her attempts to get turned around; he's holding her tight enough to present some difficulty in movement. Riza has just managed it when he blinks open his eyes, frowning groggily.

She can pinpoint the moment his gaze focuses on her - it coincides perfectly with the grin that unfurls across his face. It is quite possibly the most lazy, self-satisfied smile she has ever seen Roy make, and she's seen him smile a lot. Riza supposes he has a good enough reason to smirk, all things considered.

"Hi," he whispers, voice still husky with sleep.

"Good morning."

"It's still dark out," Roy obverses as if he doesn't quite believe her, casting an eye at the window. Riza glances over at the alarm clock sitting on her nightstand.

"A little after three," she replies, and looks back at him just in time to see Roy make a face.

"I'd complain," he says, "but I suppose waking up to this is better than any dream I could ever have." He runs his fingers in idle circles over the small of her back, and his touch alone sends sparks of warmth down her spine and into her stomach. Riza quirks an eyebrow, but decides to let the ridiculous statement slide. Roy snorts as though he knows her thoughts exactly, his smile widening noticeably.

They fall into a contented quiet, comfortable and warm, as if all the usual worries and concerns that plague them each day have been suspended by the late hour. Gradually, Riza can see Roy's smirk fade, and his gaze grows serious as he regards her. His eyes are darker than she's ever seen them.

"What is it?" she asks finally, when the silence stretches a little too long. She wonders if the other foot is finally about to drop on this brief reprieve.

Roy reaches up, smooths back her hair from her eyes, trails his fingers along her cheek. "We waited too long for this," he says at last.

Riza feels the emotion well up like a tangible thing within her throat, and it suddenly seems inconceivable that she could ever have managed to stay so far from this man before now. At a loss for words, she leans up and kisses Roy hard, curling her hand around his neck.

When he slides his palm down her waist and bites her lower lip, Riza hitches her leg over his and uses her weight to roll them both over until Roy is on his back beneath her. The sudden movement unsettles Black Hayate from his sleep, and he shakes irritably, jumps down from the bed and settles back down in the corner by the dresser with a long sigh. Neither Roy nor Riza particularly notice.

They break apart only for Riza to brush another kiss along the line of his jaw, and Roy chuckles again, breathlessly now. "Eager, are we?" he teases, tracing his fingers purposefully over her thigh.

Riza pauses and looks up at him. She can't help the way one corner of her mouth curves upwards mischievously.

"There's a lot of lost time to make up for," she states, as if it were perfectly obvious. "It's time to get to work, General."

"I feel like my work ethic is rather good tonight," Roy jokes, tugging her closer and pressing an adequately enthusiastic kiss into the curve of her neck.

"You'll have to prove it, sir."

There is plenty that still needs to be said, but then again, they're accustomed to waiting.


End file.
